Westward Tide of East Germans Is a Popular No-Confidence Vote

By FERDINAND PROTZMAN, Special to The New York Times

Published: August 22, 1989

GIESSEN, West Germany, Aug. 19—
Sitting on a bench in the sunny main courtyard of the central reception camp for East German immigrants in this quiet town north of Frankfurt, the East German did not look like someone about to begin a new life.

But like thousands of other East Germans, the 39-year-old tool-and-die maker and a friend ended their summer vacations in Hungary by escaping across the border into Austria, leaving almost everything they owned behind.

So far this year, 55,970 East Germans have come to the West, about 15 percent of them without official permission. That compares with 39,832 people for all of 1988. The rate of migration is the highest since the Berlin wall was built in 1961 to stem an exodus that was approaching 2,000 people a day.

The current trend is accelerating. In July, 11,707 East German emigrated to West Germany, according to Bonn Government figures. A total of 2,144, or 20 percent of them, had no exit permission. By law, West Germany must offer citizenship to East German citizens since it does not officially recognize the division of Germany. [ A West German Government spokesman said Monday that 1,400 East Germans arrived in the West over the weekend. Of those, 980 crossed the border between Austria and Hungary, Austrian officials said.

Western analysts and recent emigres say the rising number of East Germans trying to escape to the West in recent weeks reflects a deepening loss of faith in the Communist system and the nation's leaders, a loss bound to have a profound effect on East Germany's future.

''It is the greatest embarrassment possible,'' said Michael Sturmer, the director of the Ebenhausen Foundation, an independent research institute. ''The East German Government has pretended for years that capitalism is a decaying system and that East Germany is building on the moral high ground. Now the people are voting with their feet, as they have done before. Nothing can persuade them otherwise.''

The tool-and-die maker encountered here would not talk about the life he was leaving behind in East Germany. ''In five minutes, we're heading to the train station,'' he said, motioning to his friend. ''I can't explain all the thoughts that were behind the decision to leave. The situation where I came from had reached a point where there seemed to be no reason for remaining, no hope for improvement in my life. Now, I'm going to stay with relatives and get a job. I'll work, save some money, get a car and an apartment. For now, that's all I want.''

Neither he nor his friend, who asked that their names not be used because the publicity might jeopardize relatives still in East Germany, would say where they are going. They boarded a train headed to southern Germany 25 minutes later. As they departed, more families arrived and followed the signs to the camp on the far side of the rail yard.

The new arrivals will stay for a few days and then move on, some to relatives or friends, others to wherever they can find work and a place to live. On the trees lining the road leading to the camp, there are small placards advertising jobs, cars and in one instance, a man seeking a wife. 'Threatens to Destroy' Country

Since the German Democratic Republic, as East Germany is officially called, was established in 1949, many of its citizens have fled to the West for a variety of reasons. But the current migration, which the East German author Stefan Heym recently called ''a phenomenon that threatens to destroy the German Democratic Republic,'' is something new.

On average nearly 100 East Germans a day are crossing the border between Austria and Hungary in areas where the barbed-wire border fence was removed in May, Westerners estimate.

Sometimes the figure is much higher. Over the weekend, in the largest mass escape since the Berlin wall was built, about 600 East Germans stampeded through a border gate that had been open to let Austrians cross to the Hungarian town of Sopron for a festival.

Other East Germans are trying a different tack to get out of their homeland. A total of 337 East Germans are occupying West German diplomatic missions in East Berlin, Prague and Budapest, seeking help in getting permission to emigrate.

Chancellor Helmut Kohl's West German Government has closed its diplomatic mission in East Berlin and the embassy in Budapest, and is negotiating with the East German leadership of Erich Honecker. But the talks are at an impasse, and the issue has soured relations between the two Germanys. Previously Occupied

West Germany, because it does not officially recognize the East German state, has no embassy, as such, in East Berlin. The diplomatic mission, which was opened in 1974, was briefly closed in 1984, when it was similarly occupied by 55 East Germans seeking exit visas.

Eight hundred other East Germans are camped out near the Budapest embassy. Bonn Government officials estimate that 200,000 East Germans are vacationing in Hungary and that 10,000 to 20,000 of them may try to escape rather than return home.

Thousands more are emigrating legally. Most of those who leave, legally or illegally, are 20 to 40 years old, representing a broad range of skills and education.